CHAPTER 8

A Rock Gym, and a Hard Place

Disclaimer: Pokémon belongs to Nintendo, Satoshi Tajiri, and the Pokémon Company International, while Super Sentai belongs to Toei Company Ltd. Both Morgan Alter and I own nothing but the idea, story, and our OCs.

Written by MagicWings001 and Morgan Alter

It was sunrise at Lumiose City, and most of the city's residents would then begin to do their daily activities and routines. Business was going like usual, however, we then focus our attention to the Lumiose Airport, where N and Momoka was, hand-in-hand, waiting for someone to arrive at the gates of the facility.

Moments later, a man in his late 30s with a fair complexion, brown hair, and brown eyes would later come out and make his way towards the engaged couple, followed by a young boy at the approximate age of 14 with the same fair complexion as the man, and the same brown hair. However, the boy had blue eyes instead. The two new people were Kyouhei, a renowned trainer from Unova and one of N's old friends, and his only son, Kengo.

N and Momoka later approached the father and son duo, with N taking the initiative to greet them first. "It's been a while, Kyouhei. I hope you and Kengo are still doing really well."

"You bet we still are doing well, N. But it's been years since I've visited Kalos that I ultimately forgot which place is located where. You okay to show me and Kengo around, mate?" Kyouhei responded.

"Well, I could, but the reason that I have called you to come here are more... Pressing. Would you mind if I go away with your father for a little bit, Kengo?" N said before proceeding to ask, ruffling the boy's hair in the process.

"I don't mind, N." Kengo said. The young boy was pretty much silent for the whole time when his father was talking, and he was rather distant to Kyouhei, despite the latter being his own father. Now, an apparent 180-degree change in his behavior was obvious, indicating that Kengo was acting rather strange at the time.

"Don't worry, Kengo. I'll be able to show you around Kalos if you want." Momoka reassured, putting her hand on the young boy''s shoulder and talking to him in a rather motherly tone.

"Thanks, I... guess." Kengo responded, forcing a smile on his face. Seeing Momoka's impromptu parenting though, Kyouhei then began to nudge N a few times before proceeding to tease the former Team Plasma member.

"N, hey! When's the wedding bells going to ring? I'm sure Mei would have loved to partake in the planning stages, you know?" The Unovan man teased. He had known Momoka for about some time now, and as a result, he was fully up to date with her and N's relationship, and being the jokester that he is sometimes, Kyouhei would then begin to endlessly tease and pester the engaged couple about their wedding.

N later fell into a fit of laughter as he walked away from his wife-to-be and Kengo as a result, only forming a response once he had calmed himself down. "Not in a few months, Kyouhei..." After that, the two men then continued on with their conversation while walking away, later disappearing in the distance.

"Well, then, Kengo, are we ready to go?" Momoka asked, proceeding to make her way out of the gates just as her future husband had led Kyouhei onto another part of the airport.

"You bet!" Kengo said, excitedly. The two then proceeded to make their way out, with Momoka guiding Kengo about Lumiose City's layouts.

Olympus Castle, Kalos

"WHAT!? You expect me to work with her out of all people because she has a scheme!?" Apollo yelled, with him throwing an outburst at his own higher-up, Zeus at having to work with Artemis, whom he has a bit of an animosity with. The latter then responded with much disapproval.

"You are the only general in this organization who is currently capable of creating Inhumanoids, Apollo. Even if you decline, you WILL have to proceed anyway." Zeus said, with him raising his voice to scare Apollo and goad him into obeying his orders.

"Fine... Artemis, what do you have in mind?" Apollo responded, finally relenting to help, but with some slight hesitation present in his voice.

"I propose that we begin targeting Shinkai Pink as quickly as possible. If we are finally able to target Shinkai Pink and mark her for elimination, her brother Shinkai Red will eventually come after her as well and fall into our trap." Artemis summarized.

"Shinkai Red is the leader of those pesky fools. Marking him for elimination will effectively remove the team of their 'charismatic leader' and cause them to fall down in disarray..." Apollo remarked, with him calming his rage down and using the tactical side of his brain, for once. He however, forgot that Shinkai Yellow was able to take up leadership, which would prove vital in making the plan backfire.

"But for that to happen, however, I personally need the creation of a new and significantly stronger Inhumanoid in order to be able to injure Shinkai Pink. Are you sure you would be able to handle all of that, Apollo?"

"Well, YOU BET YOURSELF THAT I'M ABLE TO HANDLE THAT!" Apollo snapped. He wasn't clearly acting like himself after the vicious beatdown that Takeru gave him.

"SILENCE! Arguing about this plan is only going to make matters much worse, and we do not accept this behavior. Apollo, Artemis, have I made myself clear with that!?" Zeus responded, trying to calm themselves of their bickering by once again, raising his voice.

"Make sure that there are no available loopholes, Artemis. We do not want to tolerate any of your failures. And for you, Apollo, please proceed with the creation of the new Inhumanoid immediately right then and now!" Hera added. The two generals then affirmed the order, with Artemis immediately trying to think her best to snuff out any major loopholes (but again, somehow missing Ran in the process) and Apollo immediately going to his lab to choose the subject of his cyborg conversion. If only they knew that N was currently keeping tabs on them, however.

We then focus back our attention to Momoka and Kengo, who were currently taking a leisure walk at downtown Lumiose. However, Kengo had unknowingly walked too fast, getting away from Momoka's watch, and, due to him getting himself deep in thought, he'd wound up bumping into Takeru by accident whilst he was taking a momentary break.

"Hey, hey, hey, watch where you're going next time, would you?" Takeru said, not noticing who Kengo was.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't see- Kamishiro-san!?" Kengo said while getting back on his feet, at first going to apologize, however stopping himself when he noticed who he'd bumped into.

"Wait, Kengo..?" Takeru called out in shock after noticing his voice, with him just staring at the younger boy. He had actually known Kengo for some time now after meeting him on a one-off vacation to Unova with his family, and as a result, Takeru had ended up forming a senior-like bond towards Kengo, whom the former viewed as his junior-figure.

The 14-year old young boy could then only form an awkward response. "Yeah, it's me, Kamishiro-san..."

"What the hell are you doing here? Are you on a vacation or something?" Takeru replied, with his tone of voice later eliminating the awkwardness between the senior and junior duo, while also putting both of his hands on Kengo's shoulders.

"Eh... Dad brought me here, but I don't exactly know the full picture why. I've never been to this region either, though, so, I'm just exploring aroun-" Kengo answered, before he was cut off by Momoka's voice calling out for him.

"Kengo!" Momoka called out, with her finally spotting him conversing with Takeru. She then simply approached the two trainers, keeping a neutral expression as she tried to be civil towards Takeru.

"Have you been with him the entire time, Momoka-san?" Takeru greeted while also simultaneously asking Momoka about his junior-figure.

"Yep. He still is. Speaking of the devil, are your hero stunts still going on, or are you currently trying to focus on other things?" The woman replied.

"Eh, I'll only transform into Shinkai Red when there's an Inhumanoid monster wandering around cities, towns or villages. And since there are no attacks as of this moment, I'd rather focus on getting myself the Cliff Badge from the Cyllage City Gym." Takeru answered straightforwardly.

"Wait, are you going to compete in the Kalos League, Kamishiro-san?" Kengo said.

"Eh, the League Conference is still many months away, and I'm on my second badge now. As a result, I'd rather prefer to keep my record stellar. Although the publicity from my identity as Shinkai Red being exposed is getting up on my nerves sometimes." Takeru said, pausing to shoot his intimidating stare at Momoka for a few seconds and causing Kengo to wince. He then proceeded to continue on anyway. "Ah, well, that reminds me... I have to quickly meet up with Erina and the rest of the team before we proceed to speed up to Cyllage. Kengo, Momoka-san, please send my regards to Kyouhei-san and N respectively, please."

"Likewise with the other Shinkaigers, then, Takeru." Momoka said. Takeru later shot Momoka a smile before proceeding to begin making his way out of the area by changing his U-Phone into the EvolStriker.

"I'm certain that it could be arranged, Momoka-san. Well, looks like I'll be off, then. See you, Kengo." Takeru answered, giving a bro-fist to the 14-year old boy before proceeding to ride on his motorbike.

"Good luck, Kamishiro-san!" Kengo responded, wishing his senior-figure luck in the upcoming Gym match. Takeru then glanced over to meet the 14-year old's gaze while putting up a smirk. He then proceeded to rev up the engines on the EvolStriker, with the motorbike and its rider later disappearing off to the distance.

Route 7, Kalos

Takeru, Ran, Ryouma, Hikaru and Erina were currently cruising through Route 7 atop their respective EvolStrikers, with the five motorbikes currently going at its maximum speed in order to get to Cyllage City as fast as possible, passing by the Battle Chateau in the process. However, soon, the motorbike began to release a beeping sound, indicating an incoming call. Sure enough, the call was from Lillie, and as a result, the team would then pick up the call via the dashboard's touchscreen function.

"What's the matter, Ohkido-san?" Takeru said, with him slowing the speed of the EvolStriker down in order to quiet the noisy engine sounds.

"Takeru, we've received information that M.Y.T.H.O.S is currently creating a new Inhumanoid as we speak. Unfortunately, you and Erina are now the targets that Zeus has in mind for the Inhumanoid to kill." Lillie said.

"The FUCK!? Take-chan and Eri is the one being targeted now!?" Hikaru yelled.

"They must've been planning to attack Erina first, so that Takeru would then lower his guard down and come after her as her older brother... And if Takeru's gone, the team would be disorganized and without a leader." Ran surmised.

Ryouma then let out a slight chuckle and a sigh. "Oh, Arceus, the sheer stupidity in this plan is making me laugh! Did they apparently just forget that Ran could take up leadership in case of Takeru being gone?

"Yeah, apparently they forgot about me taking up leadership, but, come on, man, they're aiming to kill Takeru and Erina! If both of them are gone, we would need to find a replacement ranger. Which is difficult, considering the criteria that caused us to be selected is rather peculiar." Ran said.

"Meaning that we have to get tactical. We need to do something about them before my Gym match is supposed to take place today." Takeru said.

"Takeru, you're the one being targeted along with Erina. Being too obvious and too blatant while you're in Cyllage City will only make things worse. I suggest that you two put on a disguise, just to be safe enough." Lillie replied.

"Okay, that could work, but we need a decoy plan to help Take-chan and Eri get away to safety. How could we do that?" Hikaru responded, before proceeding to ask his mother the question.

"Well, we do have a new Auxiliary Medal. It's been mass-produced in all of the Aether Foundation branches in the world by now, and since it has the ability to clone a person, a Pokémon, or an object, fooling Zeus around with exact duplicates of Takeru and Erina might actually work for a decoy plan."

"Great. Then, we just act like we didn't expect anything, wait for them to attack the clones, and then get back on Zeus by going for the counter option. The real Takeru and Erina can reveal themselves later on and kill the monster if anything goes smoothly." Ran said, voicing his thoughts out loud.

Takeru then agreed." Eh, that would work. But if Erina gets attacked when we reveal ourselves, then I'll go full vicious mode. The Infernal Blade's Shinkaiger suit is much, much stronger than the original one right now, so I may be able to get out a fast kill."

"Alright, then. We hope you five are already prepared for the attack. And Takeru, Hikaru, good luck on your Gym battles, I'll be rooting for the both of you to win as best as I can." Lillie said, wishing her son and protege good luck.

"Alright, thanks, Ohkido-san." Takeru replied.

"Thanks, Mom." Hikaru said.

"Well then, looks like I'll meet you all back at the Guardia Base when you're done with the Gym match. Take care, all of you." Lillie said. She then ended the call after a few more responses from the team, just as the EvolStrikers would then finally pass through the Cyllage City gates. With that, Takeru and the others would then finally pull over, changing their motorbikes back into their U-Phones before proceeding to retrieve the Clone Medal that Lillie had sent over.

Cyllage City Gym, Cyllage City, Kalos

A few minutes later, the Shinkaigers would then enter the Cyllage City Gym. with them cancelling the clone plan after there were no monster attacks recorded during the interim. Their arrivals were later greeted by Julien, the Gym Leader of Cyllage City, who was currently standing atop the Gym's rock climbing wall. She was a young woman at about 19 years of age, with a fair complexion, black hair, and gray eyes. She was also wearing a casual outfit with a rock emblem, complete with rock climbing gear. The 19-year old Gym Leader herself was actually the younger sister of the previous Gym Leader in the line-up, Antoine.

"Oh, the Shinkaigers! Bienvenue! I assume you're here for a Gym match against me?" Julien greeted, with her personally welcoming the team.

"Oui, Julien. Both Hikaru and I currently want to challenge you for our second badges. We've already beat your brother back at Santalune City, so we decided we would ultimately go for it." Takeru said, also covering for his rival.

Just then, the sounds of a few footsteps were heard, and Antoine himself later entered the Gym, with him wanting to be supportive to his younger sister. "Let's just see if you're also capable of beating my sister then, Kamishiro. Your tactics during our battle back at Santalune turned out to be rather impressive."

"Eh, I wouldn't call it impressive though, Antoine. However, speaking of the devil, let's get to the point, shall we? I'll meet you guys at the top of the mountain, then." Takeru replied, before proceeding to make his way onto the rock climbing wall.

"You sure you're able to climb the walls that Dad put up without you destroying it?" Julien said.

"Relax. I'm only using 30% of my power on all of my cybernetic limbs, and that's equivalent to an experienced rock climber. I can control the percentage as I wish, so I'm not going to destroy it if I'm able to keep the power level constant." Takeru rebutted back while starting to climb the wall. Meanwhile at the same time, the rest of the Shinkaigers and also Antoine himself would later take on the elevator, as they were currently going to spectate the match. However, Hikaru would have to go back down and attempt to climb up to Julien in order to be able to beat her.

Sure enough, Takeru would later reach the top of the mountain in a few minutes and come face to face with Julien, taking their places in the trainer box with the referee also already in position and the cameras broadcasting the match worldwide on live TV already rolling. The rest of the Shinkaigers was also in the stands beside the battlefield, along with Antoine. However, before the match could even begin, Takeru would instinctively come out of his trainer box, pulling the Infernal Blade out of its sheath before slashing the air. Bringing the blade of his sword up to his face, he then began to speak.

"I know you're there. Hiding will be useless... Swallow Inhumanoid." Takeru said. As a result, a flying monster, based on the Pokémon Swellow, would then appear out of thin air. Swallow Inhumanoid was one of M.Y.T.H.O.S' latest monsters, with her working under Artemis as per her nefarious plans to eliminate Takeru and Erina. The monster was however equipped with invisibility, which would make infiltrating the Shinkaigers easy, but also make it so that she would be a harder monster to kill.

"A̸̻͝ḧ̴̢̟,̸͙̋ ̴̠̋̕s̸͕̾̕ö̵̡͈̽ ̶̨̽̃ȳ̷̯͇͑o̵͇̓ů̸̪'̶͇̃̓v̴̠̹͛ē̵̗̫͘ ̶̨̓̂ḧ̷̹̲̂e̵̢̽̕a̶͔͑r̷̩̀d̶̬̤́ ̶̦̜͛ô̵̳f̸͔͆̓ ̵̼͈̎ḿ̶̮͝ĕ̶̮̤͊?̵̙̃" The female monster said.

"Yes, I have. You're one of M.Y.T.H.O.S' much more recent and stronger Inhumanoids, yet you have the guts to infiltrate us and let you expose yourself in front of live television. I wouldn't do that if I were you." Takeru responded.

"Į̴̳̔͌t̶̠̽͐ ̵̹̺̐w̵̡͖͐́o̸͇͒͝u̶̳͊͌l̴͉̲̽̑d̷̠̍͝ ̸̢͕̐̆n̶͙̦̚o̴̟͉͌͝t̴͔̿͛ ̸̦̒̈m̴̛̞̾ͅa̷͕̒̈t̸̜̐̇t̷͉͠ȩ̵̨͝r̷̨̻͊ ̶̼̙̅͂t̴̬̂͠ȯ̸̯̈ ̸̻̼̋m̵̹̭̂ë̴̛̫́ ̵̟̍i̷̧̙̚f̶̣̤̚ ̴̡̮͒I̷̺͘'̴̼͌͊v̶̧̨̀é̸̗̄ ̷̟͉͗ś̶ͅu̴͚̺̎͂ḉ̵c̸̮͐e̸̜͐͝ĕ̶̩ḋ̴̯e̷̛̹d̶͎̥̃̍ ̴̢̥̃̂ĩ̷̟͎̑ṇ̶̐ ̵̮̎ḳ̷̞͝i̷̻̓͐l̶̤͍̔͝l̸͇̀̃ī̷͓̀ñ̶̖̩̕g̶̝̪̓ ̷͕̫́y̶̮̮͆o̴̡̎ū̸̖ a̶͖̹̍́n̵̹͋d̴͔̩̈ ̸̘͐y̸̢̤̑̓ó̶̧͐u̵̢͝ṙ̴̙̌ ̴̭͂̀s̸̖̜̊̍i̷̗̩̊s̷̗̈̈́t̷̢͆̽e̷̲̓̓r̶̥̲͆ p̵̹̻̃ḛ̶̹͂r̶̼͂ ̶̝̪̈t̸̮̩͐ḩ̷́͝ĕ̷̢̝̚ ̷͔̌͋o̶̲͙͆̋r̷̛͖d̴͈̝́̂e̶͎̘͑͘ŕ̸̝͠s̸̢̞̍ ̴̜̫͋̌ǫ̴̣̎f̸̨̲͂ ̸̛̥͔͋E̸̬̾̕m̴̡̲̂p̶̲̏̽ę̵̫̕r̵̬̪͝o̶̞̚r̶͇͊ ̵̩̎Z̵̮͍̾͘è̷͚͓̓ṵ̷͈̋s̶͚̀͘͜!̸̲̉" The swallow monster rebutted back while landing on the battlefield.

In response, Takeru later let out an aggressive expression before saying his sentence, later ordering everyone in the area, including Julien and the referee, to get to safety in the stands. "Well then. If you're planning on to kill me and Erina, then I'll make that plan a nightmare for you to pull off. Everyone, get to safety quickly."

The 17-year old warrior then proceeded to take out the Talonflame Medal, with him planning on transforming into Shinkai Red on a live, worldwide broadcast to all of the public currently watching.

TALONFLAME!

He then proceeded to scan the medal on the Infernal Blade's hidden scanner.

BURST!

The Infernal Blade then begins to play a menacing musical loop as Takeru then begins to do a simple and brief pose, with him later inserting the medal into the slot located at the handle of the sword.

"Spark Change!"

INFERNO UP!

Takeru's body is then engulfed completely by burning flames as he lets out a fierce battle cry with his transformation announcement resounding loudly. Once the flames begin to dissipate, Takeru would then be revealed in his Infernal Blade suit, before many of the helmet pieces would then appear and slam into Takeru's head, firmly locking into place. The helmet then begins to glow, finishing off the transformation.

BLAZE! ABYSS! HELLFIRE! SHINKAI RED! TALONFLAME!

"Well then, let's just get straight to the point and settle things the hard way, then." Takeru said, with him standing on the Gym's battlefield. Swallow Inhumanoid was standing directly on the opposite side where Julien would be if the match had gone uninterrupted instead.

Takeru then proceeded to charge towards Swallow Inhumanoid, with the Swellow-based monster practically doing the same thing to him. The two then began to clash, with Takeru delivering a few kicks and punches while Swallow Inhumanoid later ultimately decided to deliver a deadlier version of Air Slash towards her opponent. Takeru however was swift, and the Red warrior managed to effortlessly block the attack from harming him using the back of his elbow.

However, the swallow monster was also rather fast as she would then deliver a much deadlier version of the move Brave Bird in a fraction of a second, causing Takeru to be lifted a few feet high into the air. Fortunately, Takeru was able to do a backflip and unfurl his wings, which now looked mechanical and man-made instead of avian. The cause of this was that his wings were adjustable depending on the EvolMedal and / or device used by the Red warrior to transform.

Takeru was later able to come in for a landing, later picking up Swallow Inhumanoid and pinning the monster down against the battlefield grounds while careful to not damage the battlefield for the Gym match. As the recoil damage from the deadlier Brave Bird was carried over from the original move and massively upscaled, it would end up weakening the swallow monster, although the cyborg was still able to move. As a result, the Inhumanoid would then begin to ultimately stand up, before Takeru was able to deliver a punch that knocked her to the edge of the mountain. Seeing the opportunity, Takeru then removed the Talonflame Medal from the Infernal Blade's handle slot and begin scanning it on a second hidden scanner to initiate a finishing blow.

CHARGE!

Takeru later re-inserts the Talonflame Medal into the handle slot again in order to activate the finishing blows.

FIREBIRD ASSAULT!

Takeru then proceeds to cover his lower arm in red energy before delivering a punch to Swallow Inhumanoid, while an energy construct of a Talonflame would then later appear beside him. Multiple streams of red and orange energy are later released as the punch strikes the swallow monster in the abdomen, causing the aforementioned Inhumanoid to be knocked over the edge of the mountain cliff and as a result, fall down onto the floor below. This left Swallow Inhumanoid severely weakened, later prompting her to retreat back to the Olympus Castle in order to appropriately recover. Takeru wasn't even done, however, he ultimately decided to hold off from fighting the monster again in favour of holding his postponed Gym match.

"Well, at least she's gone for the time being." Takeru said, before proceeding to disengage his transformation. He then continued on. "Let's proceed with the Gym Battle. Everything's all good... For now, at least."

And with that, the referee and Julien later proceeded to take their respective places again while Takeru returned back to his trainer box.

Later on, the referee then proceeded to speak up to begin the match. "This will be an official Pokémon Battle between Takeru, the challenger and Julien, the Cyllage City Gym Leader. The Gym Leader will have the use of two Pokémon, while the challenger will be allowed to use all of the Pokémon currently available in their party. The battle will be over when either trainer's Pokémon are unable to continue, and only the challenger will be able to make substitutions during the course of the battle."

"Well, then, Kamishiro. I've been looking forward to this moment ever since my brother had told me about your tactics during his Gym match with you. Let's see if your Pokémon actually have the very same battling skills as their trainer, then." Julien said, with her referring to the previous fight with Swallow Inhumanoid on the battlefield which appropriately showcased Takeru's own fighting style and skills at the last part. The 19-year old young woman later proceeded to unclip one of her 6 Poké Balls from her belt and throw it into the air. "Crustle, let's go!"

A beam of blue light then shot out of the Poké Ball, revealing Julien's Crustle, which was ready to battle.

"Ehh... Same deal as Antoine, then. Two of the much stronger Rock-types on your team, and I only have a rookie Pokémon that would have the type advantage. Speaking of that Pokémon, though, Froakie, let's not waste time." Takeru said, with him casting a brief glance at Antoine before unclipping Froakie's Poké Ball and throwing it into the air.

In an instant, Froakie would then come out of the Poké Ball via the same blue beam, with him mouthing out a grunt of determination while eyeing Crustle, eyes narrowed.

The referee then proceeded to make the call. "Let the battle begin!"

Julien was swift enough to begin the battle without Takeru ever asking for her to make the first move, with her coming in for a direct attack. "Crustle, X-Scissor!"

"Dodge it and go into Double Team!"

With the order from its trainer, Crustle proceeded to jump into the air and both of its claws would then glow light blue. It then puts its claws together in front of itself and a light blue 'X'-like energy with a magenta outline appears in front of its claws.The energy then falls forward, otherwise slamming into Froakie if it wasn't for the last minute dodge. The frog Pokémon would then swerve backwards before it would then proceed to create many clones of itself, with the Froakie clones running and spinning around Crustle in order to disorient it.

"Use Rock Wrecker on the real Froakie!" Julien ordered. As a result, Crustle would then put its claws together in front of itsrlf, causing a small gray stone with a red aura around it to form in between them. The rock then grows larger until it is as large as Crustle itself. Crustle then fires the giant rock at the Froakie clones, causing said clones to disappear one by one and the real Froakie to be pummeled back onto the ground by the giant rock before making a hard impact, kicking up dust and smoke. Crustle was unable to move, however Froakie had it worse as the Frog Pokémon would later slam onto the battlefield grounds with swirls in its eyes. The Rock Wrecker was too much for Froakie to bear.

The referee then proceeded to make the call. "Froakie is unable to battle. Crustle wins!"

As a result, Takeru would later silently return Froakie to its Poké Ball, with him only giving an approving nod in order to thank his Kalos starter. The 17-year old boy would then unclip another one of his Poké Balls, before facing Antoine for a second and later coming back to Julien's gaze. "Well then. Your brother had himself dealing with complete rookies. But now, Julien, I'm not using another one of my newer Pokémon.

"Oh?" Julien said, tilting her head in confusion for a second.

"Scizor... Let's slash 'em up." Takeru said stoically in response to the Gym Leader,'s confusion, before throwing the Poké Ball in his hand up into the air.

In seconds, the blue beam would then shoot out of the device, revealing Takeru's Scizor. The boy had previously caught it as a Scyther back when he was in Kanto, and had only evolved it in Johto a year later after lots of rigorous training under Satoshi's guidance. Thus, Scizor was said by many to be one of Takeru's strongest Pokémon, which included his ace, Charizard.

"So, he decided to finally use Scizor again after all these years..." Hikaru muttered from the stands.

"If Takeru's using one of his older Pokémon here, then I bet that he's not going to go extremely easy on Julien this time." Ran analyzed.

"He definitely isn't, Ran-san." Erina responded.

"Let's just see what he's up to, then, Ran." Antoine said.

Back on the battlefield, Takeru later went on the offensive rather immediately by making the first move. "Bullet Punch."

As a result of that order, one of Scizor's claws would then glow light blue and it then proceeds to repeatedly punch Crustle with it. With Crustle not being able to move from the Rock Wrecker, the Stone Home Pokémon was severely weakened due to the type advantage as a result.

"Rock Polish!" The Rock-type specialist ordered. As a result, Crustle would then snap one of its pincers, causing its body to spark with light blue energy and enabling Crustle to slightly move faster. However, Takeru wasn't having ANY of that.

"Metal Claw, Scizor." Takeru ordered swiftly. As a result, with that very order, Scizor would then proceed to jump at Crustle, crossing both of its pincers. Both pincers then become surrounded by a gray aura and gray static would then appear around them. Scizor then proceeds to make a landing as it reaches Crustle's proximity, before it then brings its claws forward and slams them together in front of itself, creating a large gray energy ball and a large slash that would combine into one and collide with Crustle, causing an explosion. How Scizor was able to execute the move itself though was similar to one of Takeru's combo attacks that he had used against Apollo; the Daishinka Raigeki.

Once the smoke and dust from the explosion had settled down, Scizor was revealed to be still standing, having withstood the explosion with ease. Crustle however later slammed into the ground with swirls in its eyes, with Scizor's sheer power as Takeru's Johto ace completely obliterating Crustle. The referee then proceeded to make the call. "Crustle is unable to battle. Scizor wins!"

"Return, Crustle. You did a great job." Julien said, while returning Crustle back into its Poké Ball. The Gym Leader then shot an impressed look to the Red warrior while unclipping a Poké Ball from her belt and reattaching Crustle's.

"Well, at least brother wasn't kidding when he said that your battling tactics were impressive, Kamishiro. Especially with one of your strongest Pokémon..."

Takeru however disregarded the Rock-type specialist's compliment and decided to brush it off, while also silently returning Scizor in the process and unclipping another one of his 6 Poké Balls. "Just like what I've said to Antoine during our Gym match at Santalune, I wouldn't call the tactics impressive. I mainly just use a technique of super-fast strategizing that my grandfather had taught me back when I was younger to determine what moves I could take, and that wasn't going to be possible if I didn't analyze your team first, Julien."

The Rock-type specialist then responded with one simple nod, before throwing the Poké Ball in her hand up into the air. "Noted. But I guess it's time I finally reveal my second Pokémon for this battle. Tyranitar, let's finish this!"

With that declaration from Julien, the Poké Ball would then open, revealing the colossal Armor Pokémon who was fully eager ready to battle for his trainer. The Pokémon was the Rock-type specialist's ace, however, with Julien even having a Key Stone and the Tyranitarite, which would enable her to Mega Evolve her Tyranitar. This caused Takeru to return Scizor into its own Poké Ball in order for him to not push it too far past its battling limits fighting off such a strong Pokémon.

"Oh, well, with me not bringing my stash of Z-Crystals that I had from Alola 3 years ago, I guess I'll just fight empty-handed with this. Vikavolt... let's rumble." Takeru said, before throwing the Poké Ball that he had unclipped from his belt.

And, as expected, Vikavolt would then appear from inside the Poké Ball, with the Alolan Bug-type becoming instantly eager to battle after seeing who his opponent was.

"Ah, Vikavolt... Take-chan's surely scored a fine pick. I'm half-Alolan and I usually love seeing Alolan Pokémon in battles like this, but I can tell you from experience that Vikavolt packs a Strong. Fucking. Punch." Hikaru said, once again commentating from the stands.

"Didn't Kamishiro say that he didn't bring any of his Z-Crystals? If that's the case, then he's on a massive disadvantage, since my sister can Mega Evolve her Tyranitar." Antoine responded.

"That might probably force Takeru to improvise and use unorthodox tactics, but we'll just have to see if Julien is going to end up performing it, then." Ran said. We then focus back to the battlefield as Takeru had already decided that he would go for the first move to kick off the round.

"Signal Beam."

With that specific order, a pink ring of energy appears in front of Vikavolt's face, before it then proceeds to fire a streaky pink beam of energy from the ring towards Tyranitar. Multiple blue shapes then proceed to appear around the beam, before the beam then hits Tyranitar point-blank, causing damage.

"Tyranitar, Stone Edge!" Julien commanded. Tyranitar would then proceed to slam its hands onto the ground, causing light blue rock pillars to appear out of the ground and rush towards Vikavolt. However, Takeru was swiftly able to counter that.

"Avoid it!" Takeru ordered. Vikavolt would then use its wings to get out of the stone pillars' paths.

Julien would then retaliate by commanding a move to her Tyranitar. "Use Dark Pulse!"

This would then result in Tyranitar opening its mouth, causing a light purple and purple colored aura to form inside of it. It then proceeds to fire a beam of black and purple rings of energy from the aura inside its mouth towards Vikavolt. However, Takeru was quick to block the attack once again with a move that he had hidden under his sleeve.

"Protect." Takeru simply said. Vikavolt then proceeded to form a blue force field in order to protect himself from the incoming Dark Pulse, signified by his body also glowing blue. The force field would then dissipate, with Vikavolt coming out unscathed.

As a result, realizing that Takeru's tactics were more formidable than what she had expected, Julien would then look towards the 17-year old Red warrior in the eyes, before raising her left hand. She had been wearing gloves for the course of the whole Gym battle, however, the gloves weren't an ordinary pair: Julien's Key Stone was placed on her left glove.

"Well then, Kamishiro. You've given me no other choices except for this one to deal with your formidable battle tactics. Let's raise the stakes a little bit higher, shall we?" Julien said. She then made brief eye contact with her Tyranitar, before proceeding to touch the Key Stone on her glove.

"Tyranitar, Mega Evolve!" With that declaration, blinding lights then started to appear from the Rock-type specialist's glove as well as Tyranitar's Mega Stone. The lights then dissipated, revealing Mega Tyranitar in its full glory. This caused all of the Shinkaigers to frown, while Antoine remained focused at the battlefield with an expectant look.

"So, she did decide to finally use a Mega Evolution..." Ran said.

Ryouma then responded with a simple comment. "Let's hope Takeru can find a way to somehow win this, then. No offense, Antoine."

"None taken." The Bug-type specialist said. The team and Antoine then focused back on the battlefield. Takeru was frowning, but he quickly shook the expression and thoughts off as he later went back to his usual serious behaviour.

"Alright then. Tyranitar, Thrash, then Hyper Beam!" Julien ordered.

"Counter with Protect."

The order from Julien later caused Mega Tyranitar to begin stomping around angrily, before charging towards Vikavolt to try to punch and kick the Stag Beetle Pokémon, however it was futile as Vikavolt had already put up Protect by then. The Armor Pokémon then rebounded, opening its mouth to reveal an orange ball in front of Tyranitar's mouth, before proceeding to shoot an orange beam of energy from its mouth at the Alolan Bug-type. However, the attempt was once again futile and Mega Tyranitar was unable to move as a result. Seeing this, Takeru then took the chance to reveal his final gambit.

"Now, Vikavolt, just like we practiced. Full power Giga Impact!" Takeru said. This made everyone else in the room except Erina and Hikaru gasp in surprise; Takeru never told them, besides Erina and Hikaru of course, that Vikavolt had Giga Impact nor has he ever used it during his time in Alola, instead more favouring the Z-Move Savage Spin-Out. Vikavolt's body then becomes surrounded by an orange sphere of energy, before the orange color then fades and turns purple, with orange streaks of energy that spiral around the orb. Vikavolt then flies into Mega Tyranitar while putting all of his power and strength into the move. The collision then proceeded to cause an explosion which kicked up dust and smoke, but it was ultimately revealed that Vikavolt was still standing (albeit not being able to move any of his limbs but still standing nonetheless) whereas Tyranitar was lying on the ground with swirls in its eyes, having already reverted back to normal in the process. The Giga Impact gambit had enabled Takeru to seize victory over the Gym match.

The referee then proceeded to make the judgement call. "Tyranitar is unable to battle! Therefore, the winner of the match is Takeru Kamishiro!"

Takeru and Julien would later come out of their trainer boxes, with them returning their Pokémon before walking up to the center of the battlefield, meeting face-to-face with each other.

"Nice job, Kamishiro. Your tactics are quite the formidable one. I guess I've learned not to underestimate your skills from now on, since that Giga Impact gambit was a killer one."

"Merci, Julien." Takeru responded, thanking the Rock-type Gym leader.

Julien later commended Takeru for his victory, before handing over his second gym badge. "Well then, let's get straight to the point, shall we? As proof of your victory against the Cyllage City Gym Leader, I present to you, the Cliff Badge." Like before, with Antoine, Takeru had simply took out his gym badge case and proceeded to store the Cliff Badge in it before returning the case to his backpack.

The team would then later come to the battlefield in order to celebrate Takeru's victory with Antoine also joining in to congratulate his sister for a job well done. However, the joy was short-lived though, as the Shinkaigers would later receive a call. Sure enough, Lillie was the one on the sender's end, with them almost immediately picking up the call.

"Team, Lillie here. I've just got information that Swallow Inhumanoid is back, and she's beginning to launch an attack at the city center. You'd have to hurry and finish her off before she gets into the Gym like what happened earlier on TV." Lillie summarized.

"Got it, Mom, but I've got my Gym battle scheduled in literally a few minutes from now..." Hikaru responded.

"Don't worry about the battle, you're going to be off-duty, Hikaru. Good luck, and as for the remaining four of you, please go ahead and deploy immediately."

"Yes, ma'am!" The team said in unison, reaffirming it with a salute. And with that, the four cyborgs then quickly made their way out of the Gym, with Julien and Antoine not minding anyway due to knowing the urgency of the matter.

In over a few minutes or so, the four Shinkaigers would then arrive at the center of the city whilst Hikaru's match was taking place at the same time inside of the Cyllage Gym. The whole situation in the area was utterly chaotic, but that quickly changed once Ran, Ryouma, and Erina immediately took the initiative to help the citizens evacuate from the area. Takeru however went ahead and began to try to confront Swallow Inhumanoid in order to settle the unfinished business for earlier.

"Swallow Inhumanoid... We have a score to settle. No matter what method will you try, you'll never escape from my watch. Takeru said with an intimidating tone. This resulted in Swallow Inhumanoid deactivating her invisibility powers and meeting up with Takeru face-to-face; all this time, Swallow Inhumanoid was carrying out attacks whilst she was invisible, and she was only detected thanks to a temperature monitor which was able to detect her body heat in spite of the invisibility powers.

"V̵̡͝e̴̳͆͌r̴̝͋̒y̶̠̫̋̈́ ̶̮͇̑͂ẁ̴͖͕͂ȇ̵̟͕̆l̴̤͖͛l̴̦̠̎͛,̸̢̚ ̸͕̙̍t̸͖̓̕h̷͍̲͐͝ê̷̥͝n̷̙̳̚͝.̴͈̤̉ ̴̤̈́H̵͇̯̆̍o̷̲̪̊͝w̸̫͌e̴͎̲̿͋v̴̨̗̌̔ȅ̸̜̄r̵͖̔̀,̷̗̑͌ ̷̗̻͑I̶̭̊͘'̶̡̆̔l̸̙̃l̶̰̿ ̴̨͌̇m̶͍̔̈́ȃ̸̞k̵̗͈͆e̸̤͠ ̴͍̻̅s̵͐́͜͜û̶̧͖̀r̶͓̀͘ȇ̸̠͙͠ ̴̩̣͂͝ẗ̵͚́̌ǫ̵̼͌ ̵̩̓́͜Ǩ̴͕̜̂I̵̧̟̐̌Ļ̶̗̿́L̷̹̝̾͗ ̸̦̍ͅy̸̛̺̐ǒ̸͕̬u̸̒̄ͅ ̷͎̰̃t̸̺͔́ḧ̶́̚͜ì̵͔͋s̴͇̦͆̕ ̴̟̓̅ẗ̵̺ḭ̶̎ͅm̸̤̄ě̷̜!̶̟͉͐̿" The swallow monster said.

"Again, not on my watch." Takeru responded, with him already pulling out the Infernal Blade and already proceeding to scan the Talonflame Medal. He then walked up towards the monster, intent on finishing her off.

BURST!

"Spark Change."

INFERNO UP!

BLAZE! ABYSS! HELLFIRE! SHINKAI RED! TALONFLAME!

Now transformed into Shinkai Red, Takeru later proceeded to go on a merciless rampage, delivering repeated punches and kicks to the Swellow-based cyborg monster before the other three Shinkaigers would later transform and join in the fight.

Back on the Cyllage Gym, Hikaru was currently pummelling through Julien's first Pokémon that she had picked in order to suit the 17-year old's weaker power level as a Trainer, with said Pokemon being a Roggenrola. The Blue warrior had already avoided a few moves from Roggenrola and had ordered Chespin to deliver a Leech Seed barrage in order to deal damage to the Rock-type slowly all the while Antoine was observing the battle from the stands. As a result, Julien had decided to retaliate with a move.

"Roggenrola, Stone Edge!"

"Chespin, counter it with Vine Whip!" Hikaru ordered. As a result, Roggenrola's body then becomes outlined in white and two rings of multiple white pointed energy orbs appear and float around Roggenrola's body. The white glow fades when the energy orbs float around it, with the flow on the orbs also fading seconds later and forming into multiple gray jagged rocks. Roggenrola then lowers its head and fires the stones towards Chespin. However, moments before that, two light green vines come out from each side of Chespin's head and it then proceeds to swat away the rocks back towards Roggenrola before Chespin would then jump and hit Roggenrola with the vines. This would cause the Mantle Pokémon severe damage, with Chespin's Leech Seed sapping away at its energy weakening it even more.

We then shift our attention to Takeru and the rest of the Shinkaigers at the center of the city. Swallow Inhumanoid had summoned her Hoplite Soldier reserves and later decided to turn invisible in order to sneak up and attack the Shinkaigers from behind using a deadlier version of Aerial Ace. However, Ran was able to force Swallow Inhumanoid to reveal herself by using a temperature monitor built into the Shinkai Yellow helmet, with him shooting the EvolArrow at the exact place where the monster's warmer temperature readings are present on the monitor.

"G̸̱͎̃a̸̯̞͐̒h̵̜̊!̸͈͉̑̋ ̸̠̤͝I̷̼̻͘'̶̟͑̏v̵̞̈́͝ẻ̷͎͐ ̸̦̾b̶̙̉ͅe̶͈͝e̷̱̚n̷̦̥̉̿ ̷͓̂ẻ̷͇̖x̵̦̥̆p̷̦̖͆o̶̘͠s̴̞̓e̷̛̝d̸͍̍̔͜!̸̪̀ ̶̜̣̃̏I̴̠̙̍'̴̩͓͆v̷̺͂̐ẻ̶̼ͅ ̴͍̌͜b̷̹̆ĕ̵͇̺e̵̺͋̅n̵̛̤̫ ̴̫̌͋e̵̗̾x̴̮̬̑͆p̸͙̠̿ő̴͉̞̈́s̴̱̙̀̐e̸̞̬̽d̸̪͘!̴͈͗" Swallow Inhumanoid said while venting out her frustration, before finding herself being pummeled by Takeru and thrown around on the ground, as the Red warrior had opted for a more brutal fighting style while using the Infernal Blade. The three remaining Shinkaigers however were able to make extremely quick work of the Hoplite Soldiers, enabling them to gang up on the swallow monster once again.

Ryouma then began using the EvolGun to shoot out laser projectiles in order to immobilize the monster, with Ran coming in to fire a supercharged burst of electricity into the abdomen of the Inhumanoid, paralyzing her. As a result, Erina used the opportunity to weaken the monster even more, going ahead to press the top button of the EvolBracelet two times.

FINISHING BLOW!

Erina then begins to jump into the air, going towards the swallow monster before pressing the top button of the bracelet for the third time.

"Feé Tourbillon Poing!" (Fairy Whirlwind Punch!)

The Pink warrior then proceeds to coat one of her hands with a radiant pink whirlwind, forming a fist as she delivers a punch to the paralyzed Inhumanoid, with the resulting punch merely managing to knock the monster back a few feet from where she was standing.

SYLVEON! ONE STRIKE FINISH! FAIRY!

Without wasting any more time, Takeru would then decide to seize the opportunity to kill Swallow Inhumanoid, immediately removing the Talonflame Medal from its slot before hovering the device over a hidden scanner located on the underside of the sword.

CHARGE!

The Red warrior then scanned the medal on the first scanner located on the blade of the sword, before finally re-inserting it into the handle slot.

FIREBIRD NOVA!

With the finishing blow activated, Takeru's lower leg is then covered in red energy and surrounded by swirling orange energy in the shape of a Talonflame behind him. He then delivers a side kick to the enemy, producing a large orange shockwave upon impact. The Talonflame construct then rams into the Inhumanoid soon afterward, resulting in an explosion large enough to mortally wound the Swellow-based monster.

As a result, with her being at death's door, Swallow Inhumanoid then tries to stand up, with her letting out her final words, before falling onto her first death and ultimately exploding. "E̶̜̒ŗ̴̋g̷̝̎h̷͎̐͝.̵̣͓͆.̷̩̺̇̉.̷̠̣̈́ ̴͙̪̎G̷̪̍l̶̟͙͗̓o̴̞̒͒ŕ̴̯͇̚y̷̟͋͝.̶̪̀.̸̡̇̉.̵̟͐͘ͅ ̴̳̇t̶̙̽̏-̴̥̏̽t̴̟̊͊o̸̰̽͂.̴̓̄͜.̶̠̟̔̄.̷̹̀ ̶̱͖͛̇M̷̩̥̈́.̵͔̀͆ͅY̶͎̘̔͒.̵̮́͝T̶͓̊.̷͉̾̈́H̷̡̱͘.̸̖̜͐̈́O̵̤̗̽.̴̯̑S̴̗̔!̷̭̝̽̌"

At the same time inside of the Cyllage Gym, Hikaru had already knocked out Julien's Roggenrola, with the Rock-type specialist already bringing out her Tyrunt as a result. The Blue warrior had also switched his Pokémon into one of his veterans from Kanto, Hitmonchan. The Fighting-type had managed to avoid another few moves before deflecting a brutal Draco Meteor by using Mega Punch towards the rocks to the best of his ability, and though the plan was successful, a few of them would then land a hit on Hitmonchan, making it look a bit bruised up. Julien herself would then begin ordering her Tyrunt to execute a move.

"Tyrunt, Dragon Tail!"

"Oh no you won't! Hitmonchan, Agility!"

As a result of both Trainers' orders, Tyrunt and Hitmonchan would then begin executing their respective moves. Tyrunt's tail becomes covered in a green, scale-patterned aura, before it then proceeds to try and attack Hitmonchan with its tail. However, the Punching Pokémon would then quickly swerve out of the way seconds before he was about to be hit. Hikaru then took the opportunity to defeat the Kalosian fossil Pokémon.

"Let's finish this, Hitmonchan! Use Close Combat!" Hikaru ordered. As a result, Hitmonchan would then begin repeatedly punching Tyrunt at a fast speed, and the Kantonian Fighting-type was also rather merciless at that, causing smoke and dust to kick up on the battlefield. When it all dissipated, Tyrunt was down for the count, clinching Hikaru his second Gym Badge after managing to successfully defeat Antoine off-screen. The referee, as a result, provided the official call.

"Tyrunt is unable to battle! Therefore, the winner of the match is Hikaru Ohkido!"

As a result, Antoine and Julien would later walk up to congratulate Hikaru for his victory, with them complimenting his skills after seeing the results of the battle. However, before he would be awarded the Cliff Badge by Julien, the occasion was then interrupted by the sound of a loud explosion coming from the center of the city, which was caused by Swallow Inhumanoid being finished off by Takeru and the other Shinkaigers. Sure enough, it was then followed by a large tremor, signifying that the female swallow monster had already gone giant, prompting Hikaru to postpone getting the badge and chit-chatting for later in order to go aid his teammates, with him also jumping off of the mountain in order to get to the exit before making his way out to the center of the city with the EvolStriker.

"Darn it! Hikaru's still off-duty and Swallow Inhumanoid has gone up into giant size! We can't request Ohkido-san to pilot Shinkai-Oh literally every time one of us is out of commission, you know that!? Ran said, yelling at Takeru while trying to dodge a deadlier version of Air Slash from the giant swallow monster.

"Ran, calm down. Just calm fucking down..." Takeru said, trying to calm his second in command out of his panicking while Ryouma was trying his best to shoot the monster down and Erina already taking to the skies.

"Dude, what are we going to do? Hikaru's not even here!" Ran replied. Takeru, being the leader that he is, tries to continue to assure him while dodging the Inhumanoid's enormous footsteps. "Are you about to give up? Is that what it is?"

"Non, Takeru, I'm not going to-"

Takeru then proceeded to give a response to Ran's statement rather immediately, cutting him off. "No? Okay, don't fucking shout at me like that, Ran. What are you going to do?"

Ran then rebutted back, before he was cut off once again "Takeru, Blue isn't eve-"

"Calm down, Ran. While I'm standing here pissed off at you while trying to dodge that fucker's attacks, what about those fucking people here who need us, then?"

"Yeah, but we can't just-" Ran proceeded to reply before he was cut off for the third time by Takeru, who was getting fed up with him. "Right. Talk to me properly, or fuck off to the quarters when we get back to the base. Is that clear?"

Before Ran could reply though, the sound of a revving engine then resounded all over the area. The source of the sound was then revealed to be none other than Hikaru's EvolStriker, with the 17-year old boy riding on the motorbike whilst having already transformed into Shinkai Blue.

"GUYS! SORRY IF I'M LATE!" Hikaru said, with him yelling at the top of his artificial lungs in order to alert his teammates that he was approaching.

"Aaaaand there's the storm that is approaching..." Takeru remarked sarcastically, shooting a glance to Ran. The aforementioned Yellow warrior then let out a sigh of relief before proceeding to walk up to Hikaru, who had just dismounted from his motorbike and had changed it back to Phone Mode, to reprimand him for his lateness and making himself paranoid. After all of the fiasco though, Takeru would then order all of his teammates to summon their giant vehicles in order to combat the Swellow-based monster, with them using their U-Phones to do so.

Summon Mecha, On!

Jet! Trailer! Roader! Marine! Shuttle!

Summoning, Go!

With that, the Shinkaigers' five giant vehicles would then be launched out of the Guardia Base, arriving to the area in mere seconds. Takeru and the others would then make their way into the cockpits of their respective vehicles before putting their U-Phones down to act as control consoles. Lillie was simply monitoring from the base, though, as the Shinkaigers had known of Swallow Inhumanoid's ability to turn invisible from the incident at the Gym earlier in the day.

The team later proceeded to turn on all of their vehicles' onboard weapons, with Takeru and Erina flying into the air and unleashing a barrage of missile attacks towards the Inhumanoid. However, Takeru soon begins to hear a mysterious, male voice with no apparent source while he was locking his aim, which was impossible as it didn't sound like a typical inner voice nor was there any other person in the cockpit.

"Takeru." The voice said, calling out the boy's name. This resulted in the boy momentarily losing his focus after firing off another missile, but Takeru just brushed it off so as to not let it distract him. However, he then hears another mysterious voice, which is female this time, also calling out his name.

"Takeru." This once again caused the aforementioned Red warrior to lose his focus and almost fly too close towards the monster, with him not crashing thanks to quickly regaining his composure.

Then it hit him. The two mysterious voices was none other than the ones of his deceased paternal grandparents, Red and Yellow Kamishiro.

'No fucking way, what? Did I just hear Grandpa and Grandma calling out my name? But they're dead... I swear that it wasn't my inner voice, so how in the name of Arceus can I hear them?' Takeru thought. He then proceeded to call out to Red and Yellow's voices, with the rest of the team and Lillie not hearing him with the communicator being turned off.

"Grandpa? Grandma? It... It couldn't be, right?"

However, no response was heard, causing Takeru to speak again. "Grandpa? Grandma?"

No voice was heard.

"GRANDPA!? GRANDMA!?" Takeru spoke again. However, once again no voices were heard, signifying that Red and Yellow's communication with Takeru was cut off by an unseen force. Takeru then returned back to controlling the EvolJet, taking a large breath behind his helmet in order to process what was going on.

Meanwhile in the EvolMarine, Hikaru was also shooting Swallow Inhumanoid from below the ground. However, the Blue warrior soon heard a male, mysterious voice in his head calling out his name, in an almost similar vein to Takeru's altercation with Red and Yellow. Albeit, the voice sounded more like an inner voice.

'Hikaru.' The voice said. Hikaru then momentarily raised an eyebrow before going back to fighting the swallow monster.

"What was that voice?" The Blue warrior muttered to himself.

'Hikaru.' The mysterious voice called out again. Hikaru's expression then morphed into a look that said 'what', although moments later, it hit him that the voice was none other than the one of his deceased paternal grandfather, Green Ohkido.

"Wait, was that Gramps' voice? Meh, I must have been imagining things..." Hikaru mumbled in response.

"Hikaru, you're not imagining things, my boy. You're really hearing your grandfather... I have to reluctantly enter your mind to talk with you since humans can't normally hear voices of deceased spirits like me."

However, before Hikaru could retort, the communicator on his helmet then turned on, prompting Green's disembodied voice to stop explaining and shut up immediately as he was aware that Hikaru was zoning out and that his daughter in-law is going to ask the reason for it, which would be impossible for her to believe.

Sure enough, Lillie was doing exactly what Blue had previously predicted, as she proceeded to ask both Takeru and Hikaru through the communicator. "Takeru? Hikaru? Are you both alright? Because you two definitely spaced out back there."

Hikaru then hastily made up an excuse to cover up what had happened, all the while Green was listening in on his grandson's attempt to keep his presence a secret. "I'm okay, Mom! I just miscalculated the timing, so I ended up shooting the weapons at the wrong time here."

'Are you serious?' Green said sarcastically.

'Shut up, Gramps. Mom wouldn't believe me if I said that I was talking to your soul.' Hikaru replied through his inner voice.

"And how about you, Takeru?" Lillie asked in order to get Takeru's response.

"Was too deep in thought. I would've almost crashed into Swallow Inhumanoid if it weren't for me regaining my composure back." Takeru replied through the comms.

"Right, so, could you two little rascals stop goofing around or risk yourself getting hurt? We need to quickly finish this before the city would suffer any collateral damage." Lillie reprimanded. We then shift away to Takeru's side of the cockpit as a result.

"Yes, Ohkido-san." The Red warrior replied. This would prompt Lillie to cut off her connection with the team, going back to monitoring them silently. Takeru then followed it up with another order, this time to all of his teammates. "Every one of you, get into formation! And I mean quick, so get on it!"

With that order, the team would then drive their vehicles in order to get into the appropriate formation for combining into Shinkai-Oh before using their U-Phones to activate the feature.

Combine Mecha, On!

Jet! Trailer! Roader! Marine! Shuttle!

Shinkai-Oh, Go!

Takeru would then finally proclaim the keyword to initiate the combination. "Shuugo Gattai!"

Moments later, the EvolRoader would then split into two halves before swerving onto the sides of the EvolTrailer, attaching into place as two hidden compartments would then open to reveal Shinkai-Oh's arms. The completed torso of the mecha would then drive forward into the EvolMarine, with the aforementioned submarine attaching to the yellow truck vehicle's front side to form the legs of the giant robot. The EvolShuttle would then lastly perch atop the EvolTrailer in order to form the chestplate.

With the main body of the robot complete, Ran would then press the brakes of the EvolTrailer, causing gravity to lift the mecha into a standing position due to the abnormal speeds that it had managed to accumulate. The EvolJet then proceeded to pitch upwards by 90 degrees before rotating again by 180 degrees and attaching itself onto the EvolTrailer to form the head and back armor. The Shinkaigers are then transported away into one shared cockpit, completing the combination as a result. The Aeonic Saber and Aeonic Shield would then materialize in the robot's hands in order to provide additional protection and weaponry.

SHINKAI-OH!

With the combination now complete, Shinkai-Oh then took up a battle stance before preparing to charge towards the cyborg monster.

"Well then, Swallow Inhumanoid, let's settle this!" Takeru said.

Swallow Inhumanoid would then ultimately accept the challenge, leading her to ultimately attack the giant robot. "G̴̬̦̀l̸̯̺̚ă̶͓͎̋d̵͓̓l̶͎̽͌ÿ̷̢̩ ̴̠͙̀ẗ̵̟͚́͗h̵͕͗e̶̞̽͋n̶͓͜͝,̶̜̈̈́ ̵̘͙̈́͗S̸͓̎͝h̴̦̍̀i̴͕͗n̶̦̱̉̓k̵͉͋͋á̸̫͇͠ȉ̶̭͔̕g̶̘̫̈é̸̩̕ŗ̴̩̿͠ŝ̴ͅ!̴̳̓"

Thus, a brawl would then break out between Shinkai-Oh and the swallow monster, with the giant robot inflicting a great deal of damage using the Aeonic Saber. Swallow Inhumanoid then attempted to attack the Shinkaigers using some of her deadlier attacks such as an upscaled Aerial Ace and Air Slash, however the giant robot was swift enough to block it with the Aeonic Shield.

"Ĕ̶͚ŗ̶̹̄̇g̶͍̻̀h̶͔͊!̴͚͇̃̏ ̶͙̙͆C̷͕̼̍̚u̸̹̠͊r̵̙̔s̶̱͊e̵͎͛̓ ̵̱̈́y̶͔̞̿ǒ̸͍ǘ̵̩̤!̶̻̓ ̶̛͙͚͂Ṯ̵̭͛͆ã̸̮͘k̶͎̆̃è̷͙̆ ̴̧̀t̸͓̂̈h̵͍͋ĭ̴̟͈̌š̶̠́,̶̡̏̀ ̵̜͒t̵̜̰̀h̸̤͛̔ȇ̶͈̖̎ň̷̩͙̒!̷̎̃ͅ"

Shinkai-Oh was then met with a deadlier version of Brave Bird, and Swallow Inhumanoid's ramming attack was enough to cause 30% damage to the giant robot. Fortunately, the Shinkaigers were able to remedy it using the Thanatos System, before Takeru would then order Ran to execute an attack which would ultimately paralyze the swallow monster.

"Ran, can you paralyze him with the Electric Saber?"

"Gotcha, Takeru, that attack's coming right up." Ran assured, before proclaiming the name of said technique while pressing a set of buttons.

"Electric Saber!"

With that, the attack then coated the Aeonic Saber in bursts of yellow electric energy, with it charging up more bolts of electricity. Shinkai-Oh would later deliver an electric slash, causing Swallow Inhumanoid to be paralyzed and fully immobile.

"G̸̼͘ȧ̶̡h̵̦̃!̸̖̠̏̒.̶̲̟̀͊.̶̢͋̄.̵̜̔̕ ̸̣̕I̷̻͘ ̸̦̀c̵̰͉̍̆ă̷̳͔̿n̵̰̆̄'̴̖͑t̷̟̩̊ ̶̪͔̃͘m̸̥͊̔o̶͍̭͌͝v̵͉̊̾ë̶̝́͝!̴̞̬͒͐"

Seizing the opportunity, Takeru then controlled Shinkai-Oh to jump into the air before pressing on a set of buttons to initiate a new finisher attack to kill Swallow Inhumanoid for good. He then began proclaiming the name of the attack.

"Aeonic Saber: Juuryoku Kaiten Giri!" (Aeonic Saber: Gravitational Rotation Slash!)

Shinkai-Oh then proceeded to do a brief sommersault in the air before coming down on the ground, delivering a horizontal slash in the process, causing the Swellow-based cyborg monster to be bisected into two before making a landing.

"Y̶̰̐͝o̶̧̧̎͗ų̵̝̈ȓ̸͉͘ ̵̖̈́̉H̶̬͖͆ỉ̴̯͘g̸̭̺̋ḥ̷̦͛͘n̸͍̓͝è̶̡s̸̻͚̄s̶̖̣̏.̶̜͊͜.̴͙͑͒.̸͍͉̿ ̷̮̣̓A̵̘̾r̴̛̜͎t̴̜̰̐ḛ̴͔̈m̴̞̊̽ï̵̡s̶̛̜͇̀.̷̡̳͘.̴͚̘͑̋.̸̢̲̋̓ ̵̻̻̑͂F̵̺͂ͅö̷̮́r̷̤̻͂g̶͗̚͜ì̴͔v̴̯͇͝e̷̩̒͐ ̴͇͆m̶̗̤̌̒e̶̝͖̽̇!̵̧̛" Swallow Inhumanoid said, apologizing to Artemis before ultimately exploding onto her second and final death. The Shinkaigers would then celebrate their win in triumph, with Ran controlling the robot to strike a customary battle pose before returning it to normal again.

After the battle with Swallow Inhumanoid which ended in yet another victory, Hikaru was then ultimately awarded the Cliff Badge by Julien, who, then, along with Antoine, congratulated the Shinkaigers for their victory, as they had saw the giant robot battle occurring on the city below from the outside of the Gym. The team then returned back to the Guardia Base to rest for a bit, with them trying their best to be ready to fight against Zeus and his cohorts at any way possible.

Ran, and the other members of the team (sans Takeru, who already knew about him since he was friends with Kengo) would then be introduced to Kyouhei, who had joined the Aether Foundation as an intelligence analyst, through Lillie. It seems that N was already about to consolidate full control over the organization, however only Lillie and N himself would know what he was planning. The Shinkaigers would then go off to rest on the base, waiting for another battle where they are needed as Lillie would then go away from the base to prepare herself for something else entirely.

Lumiose Airport, Lumiose City, Kalos

We then shift our attention to the Lumiose Airport. It was almost nearing dusk there, and the arrivals on the airport are steadily increasing as time would then go on. We later shift our attention again to none other than Shigeru Ohkido, father to Hikaru, husband to Lillie, and the second mentor to the Shinkaigers, who had just arrived from all the way in Kanto and is currently making his way out of the arrival gate, with him taking his two rambunctious young twin children, Ibuki and Kaoru. The father-and-child trio is then seen departing in the distance in order to finally meet up with Lillie after a long while apart.

Everything is growing okay so far.

To be continued

Author's Note: Holy hell, this chapter turned out to be way longer than what I and Morgan Alter expected it to be, initially! Due to the sheer length of the chapter with how Takeru's Gym Battle was described, I ended up having to literally cut down on showing all of Hikaru's matches and only write a portion of it, intertwined with the last part of the battle with the M.Y.T.H.O.S forces. Two badges down, six more to go.

Nate / Kyouhei and his son, Kengo (not to be confused with Kenny from the Sinnoh saga of the anime, he wouldn't appear here) is finally making their first appearances after Nate was mentioned by N at the end of the last chapter. Rosa / Mei, the female player character of Pokémon Black2 and White2, has been given a mention by Nate, but she doesn't physically appear in the story yet. That's for you to find out by continuing to read this story and for me and Morgan Alter to know as the authors.

Gary / Shigeru would also finally come to Kalos after staying behind in Kanto now that Zeus is back, and he will be offering his help to his proteges from now on, hopefully, while also bringing along his twin children Ibuki (not to be confused with Clair from the Generation 2 games), and Kaoru. In addition to Gary's brief appearance at the end, Takeru's grandparents, Red (the main character of the Generation 1 games) and Yellow (the character from the Pokémon Adventures manga, not Delia Ketchum from the anime), and lastly Hikaru's grandfather, Blue / Green (the rival to Red in the Generation 1 games) have made their first physical appearances, though they are already dead at this point in time and now only exist as spirits or souls. You would've probably figured out about Red and Blue by now when Takeru and Hikaru made a mention implying them to be their grandfathers in Chapter 1, but that fact is officially confirmed now, so congratulations if you've managed to put two and two together. Red, Yellow and Blue will make an appearance again in the next chapter, which will have two new forms debuting for Takeru and Hikaru respectively, so stay tuned if you want to see them in action. As always, review, leave a comment, point out any flaws or mistakes, and we'll read up on ya when possible.

And, well then...

MagicWings001 here, signing out. Jaa ne!